Hong Kong Entertainment 1979: A Beating Up the Manager at the Start

Chapter 168 A Hundred Boats Race

Cinema City is making moves, as are Golden Harvest and Shaw Brothers, and these moves are quite significant.

First, on Golden Harvest's side, Jackie Chan returned to Hong Kong with a huff after completing two film contracts in Hollywood.

As for the reason for his cold shoulder, it all started when Golden Harvest sent him to Hollywood.

In late 1980, Jackie Chan directed "The Killer"; in 1981, he directed "Cannonball Run".

Of the two films, "The Killer" fared slightly better, ranking seventh in Hong Kong's annual box office chart in 80. It made a little money, but not much.

Cannonball Run was such a flop that even its own mother wouldn't recognize it.

Putting aside the mediocre results, the more important issue is that Jackie Chan and Warner Bros. had a falling out over the filming rights.

The Westerners definitely wouldn't relinquish control; they wanted to cultivate a second Bruce Lee. But Jackie Chan isn't Bruce Lee, so they failed.

When Jackie Chan returned to Hong Kong, there was one more thing he had to do: make a movie to repay Lo Wei's kindness.

When the two sides were vying for Jackie Chan's film, they established some rules. The rules were: the film would be invested and produced by Golden Harvest, with domestic box office revenue going to Lo Wei and overseas box office revenue going to Golden Harvest.

When someone suffers setbacks abroad, they naturally want to get revenge on their home turf, and Jackie Chan is no exception.

Therefore, he put extra effort into this script. He directly approached Tang King-sing, the top screenwriter at Golden Harvest, and the two combined several films, including "Snake in the Eagle's Shadow" and "Drunken Master," and named it "Young Master Dragon."

When the script was submitted, Zou Wenhuai approved it without even looking at it. His meaning was that it was enough to just do a simple, perfunctory job and give Luo Wei an explanation.

Little did Jackie Chan know that he misunderstood the meaning and thought that the company was very supportive, which strengthened his determination to make a good film and prove himself to Warner.

On the Shaw Brothers' side, Shaw Da-heng sent his subordinate Lau Kar-leung.

Liu Jialiang took this very seriously and had great ambitions.

He wanted to showcase all his talents in this play, so he named it "The Eighteen Martial Arts".

But a qualified director knows that making a film requires making choices. If he makes that decision, the film is destined to fail.

All of this has nothing to do with Li Jiangbo; he's still hesitating about which movie to make.

He has prepared two films for this project: "Royal Sister" and "The Inspector Wears Skirts".

Both films have their merits. "Royal Warriors" launched Michelle Yeoh's career, essentially a solo project. "The Inspector Wears Skirts," on the other hand, is an ensemble comedy with a larger cast. Fortunately, Time Pictures has a large number of actresses, enough to accommodate them all.

However, he didn't have enough money in his account to support filming two movies simultaneously. Therefore, he directly called Taiwan.

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When Lin Qingxia received Li Jiangbo's call, she was having dinner with her parents at home.

Upon hearing Li Jiangbo mention the new play, she agreed without hesitation and flew to Hong Kong the next day.

Li Jiangbo personally took charge of picking her up at the airport. As soon as Lin Qingxia came out of the gate, she saw Li Jiangbo wearing a dark blue suit and smoking a cigarette.

After exchanging pleasantries for a while, the two went straight out of the airport and got into Li Jiangbo's car.

As soon as she got into the car, Li Jiangbo took out a bouquet of roses from the back seat, giving Lin Qingxia a pleasant surprise.

"This is for you."

Lin Qingxia happily accepted the flowers, hugged Li Jiangbo and kissed him, "Thank you."

The two chatted and laughed along the way.

Upon returning to the apartment, the two kissed as soon as they entered, a kiss that resolved Lin Qingxia's longing for him over the past six months.

After a long time, the two parted ways.

Lin Qingxia started cleaning, while Li Jiangbo helped her.

Two hours later, the two collapsed onto the bed.

"Finally finished! I'm exhausted."

Li Jiangbo, holding Lin Qingxia, said, "Yes! I should have hired a cleaning company."

Lin Qingxia nestled in Li Jiangbo's arms like a kitten, without saying a word.

After a while, Li Jiangbo noticed that Lin Qingxia didn't say anything, so he turned around and found that she had fallen asleep.

Li Jiangbo thought about it and agreed. After sitting on a plane for several hours, plus all that packing, anyone would be tired.

He gently released Lin Qingxia, covered her with the blanket, and carefully went out the door.

Lin Ching-hsia slept straight through until the afternoon.

As she rubbed her sleepy eyes and walked out of the room, she saw Li Jiangbo cooking in the kitchen.

Lin Qingxia chuckled softly, quietly walked over, and immediately wrapped her arms around Li Jiangbo's waist.

"Awake?"

Lin Qingxia gave a soft "hmm," just like a spoiled kitten.

"You can go out now, the food will be ready soon."

Lin Qingxia shook her head, indicating her refusal.

Li Jiangbo didn't chase her away. Anyway, with the rewards given by the system, even if he had someone with him, cooking a meal wouldn't be a problem.

Lin Qingxia clung to Li Jiangbo, greedily inhaling his scent.

A short while later, Li Jiangbo finished cooking, put the food on the table, and placed the lovely person on his back on a chair.

"Try it and see if it suits your taste."

Lin Qingxia looked at the table full of food, her face beaming with surprise.

"Wow! Bo-zai, did you really make this?"

Li Jiangbo nodded. "I figured you'd be awake soon, so I started."

Lin Qingxia picked up a mouthful of shredded pork with garlic sauce, put it in her mouth, chewed it a couple of times, and then gave a thumbs up.

"Wow! This is delicious!"

Li Jiangbo smiled and said, "If it's delicious, eat more."

Lin Qingxia nodded heavily, then picked up a piece of shredded pork with garlic sauce and placed it in front of Li Jiangbo.

"You eat too."

Li Jiangbo lowered his head and ate the food on his chopsticks.

The two of them fed each other, and soon the food on the table was all gone.

After finishing her meal, Lin Qingxia conscientiously went to clean up.

Li Jiangbo sat on the sofa watching TV and sipping his wine.

After Lin Qingxia finished tidying up, she snuggled into Li Jiangbo's arms.

"Bo-zai, what kind of movie are you filming this time? It's not an art film, is it?"

Li Jiangbo shook his head. "No, it's a martial arts film."

Upon hearing this, Lin Qingxia looked up at him in surprise.

"A martial arts film? You want me to make a martial arts film?"

The reason she was so surprised was because she was labeled as an art film actress as soon as she debuted.

Although she tried to change her career path afterward, it wasn't very successful.

Works such as "The Dream of the Red Chamber: A Perfect Match", "Eight Hundred Heroes", and "Love Kill" are all works in which she sought to transform her image.

The movie was a success, but people's impression of her didn't change much; she was still seen as a beautiful goddess in art films.

Thinking of this, Lin Qingxia smiled helplessly and said, "I don't have any martial arts background, I'm afraid I won't be able to film it well."

Li Jiangbo kissed Lin Qingxia on the forehead and said gently, "Don't worry, I'm here! But you'll have to train hard for a while. Are you scared?"

Lin Qingxia was still a little hesitant. It wasn't that she was afraid of hardship, but rather that she was afraid of taking too big a step and accidentally hurting herself.

But seeing the hopeful look on Li Jiangbo's face, she couldn't bear to refuse and could only nod in agreement.

After finalizing the matter, Li Jiangbo and Lin Qingxia watched TV for a while, and then Lin Qingxia prepared to take a bath.

Li Jiangbo grinned mischievously, "Xia, how about we shower together to save water?"

Lin Qingxia rolled her eyes at Li Jiangbo. "Pervert!"

Li Jiangbo ignored what Lin Qingxia said and followed her into the bathroom.

The sound of running water in the bathroom masked the soft moans coming from inside.

An hour later, Li Jiangbo, wrapped in a bathrobe, carried the naked Lin Qingxia out of the bathroom.

At this point, Lin Qingxia was completely powerless and could only let Li Jiangbo do as he pleased.